The present invention relates generally to food waste disposers and, more particularly, to a new waste line connector assembly for a food waste disposer.
FIG. 1 depicts a typical food waste disposer 10. The food waste disposer 10 mounts to a sink (not shown) by a number of methods and techniques known in the art. In the present example, the disposer 10 mounts to the sink using a vibration isolation mounting system 60. The sink represents a first, substantially fixed point P1 in the vibrational system of the disposer 10.
The disposer 10 includes an upper food conveying section 12, a lower motor section 14, and a central grinding section 16 disposed between the food conveying section 12 and the motor section 14. The food conveying section 12 is connected to the vibration isolation mounting system 60 and includes a housing 18 that forms an inlet 20 at its upper end for receiving food waste. The food conveying section 12 conveys the food waste to the central grinding section 16. The motor section 14 includes a motor 22 imparting rotational movement to a motor shaft 24. The motor 22 is enclosed within a motor housing 26. The grinding section 16 includes a grinding mechanism having lugs 36, a rotating plate 34, and a stationary shredder ring 38.
In the operation of the food waste disposer, the food waste delivered by the food conveying section 12 to the grinding section 16 is forced by lugs 36 against teeth 42 of the shredder ring 38. The edges of the teeth 42 grind the food waste into particulate matter sufficiently small to pass from above the grinding plate 34 to below the grinding plate 34 via gaps between the teeth 42 outside the periphery of the plate 34. Due to gravity and water, the particulate matter that passes through the gaps between the teeth 42 drops onto base frame 28 and, along with water injected into the disposer, is discharged through a discharge outlet 44 into a tailpipe 46 and a waste line 58.
As best shown in FIG. 2, one end 47 of the tailpipe 46 is connected to the discharge outlet 44 by a non-conventional fitting consisting of a gasket 48, a flange ring or connection member 50, and at least one bolt 52. Typically, the tailpipe 46, gasket 48, flange ring 50 and bolt(s) 52 are supplied with the disposer. The gasket 48 is made of rubber and fits over a flanged end 47 of the tailpipe 46. The flange ring 50 is made of metal and slips over the tailpipe 46. The flange ring 50 attaches to the discharge outlet 44 of the disposer with the bolt(s) 52. This compresses the gasket 48 between the flange ring 50 and the discharge outlet 44 of the disposer. At the other end of the tailpipe, a nut 54 and seal 56 are used to produce a slip joint to the other household plumbing of the waste line 58, which represents a second, substantially fixed point P2 in the vibrational system of the disposer. The slip joint is capable of a limited amount of axial movement and is capable of minimal radial movement. Consequently, the slip joint is incapable of sufficiently isolating vibrations from the disposer 10 to the waste line 58.
When operating, the disposer 10 can vibrate due to rotation of the motor 22 and the forces created within the disposer 10 when food waste is impacted. The vibration of the disposer 10 can include movement in all three axes. For simplicity, the vibrational movement is described herein as having an axial component A, a rotational component R, and a lateral component L, which can occur as the disposer 10 moves relative to fixed point P1. It is understood that this description of the vibrational movement is merely used to simplify the discussion of vibration of the food waste disposer 10 and that the actual vibration of the disposer 10 can be described with more complexity.
The vibration of the disposer 10 due to the rotational forces and impacting of the food waste is transmitted through the rigid connection of the discharge 44 to the tailpipe 46. Although there is a gasket 48, once it is compressed sufficiently to seal against the disposer outlet 44 and the tailpipe 46, it becomes essentially rigid and transmits vibration. The joint between the tailpipe 46 and the waste line 58 (nut 54 and seal 56), while not perfectly rigid, is sufficiently constrained to transmit the vibration of the tailpipe 46 into the household plumbing 58.
As shown in FIG. 1, using the vibration isolation mounting system 60 between the disposer 10 and the sink reduces the amount of vibration transmitted from the disposer 10 to the fixed point P1 of the sink. Reductions in sink vibration up to 85% have been found in tests. The typical vibration isolation mounting system 60 includes a flexible element 62 and flexible support posts 64 between the sink and the disposer 10, allowing for additional motion of the disposer 10 during grinding. A side effect of the additional motion of the disposer 10, however, is greater movement of the disposer 10 in the axial, rotational, and lateral directions A, R, L and higher forces acting upon the rigid connections in the tailpipe 46 and other plumbing of the waste line 58. These increased forces may eventually result in failure of the joints, creating leaks and may create additional noise during the operation of the disposer 10.
The present invention is directed to overcoming, or at least reducing the effects of, one or more of the problems set forth above.
To that end, the present invention provides a connector assembly for attaching a waste disposer to a waste line. In one embodiment, the connector assembly includes a flexible isolation coupler. The flexible isolation coupler has a flexible portion for absorbing the vibrational forces of the waste disposer.
The connector assembly may also include at least one rigid tubular body portion. The flexible isolation coupler may be attached to the discharge outlet of the waste disposer and between the discharge outlet of the waste disposer and the at least one rigid tubular body portion. In this case, the at least one rigid tubular body portion is attached to the waste line and between the flexible isolation coupler and the waste line.
The flexible isolation coupler may also be attached to the waste line and between the waste line and the at least one rigid tubular body portion. In this case, the at least one rigid tubular body portion is attached to the discharge outlet of the waste disposer and between the discharge outlet of the waste disposer and the flexible isolation coupler.
The at least one rigid tubular body portion may also include a first rigid tubular body portion and a second rigid tubular body portion. In this embodiment, the first rigid tubular body portion is attached to the discharge outlet of the waste disposer and between the discharge outlet of the waste disposer and the flexible isolation coupler. The second rigid tubular body portion is attached to the waste line and between the flexible isolation coupler and the waste line. The attachments of the first and second rigid tubular body portions to the flexible isolation coupler may be made by several means including by using ring clamps or other clamp devices or by integrally molding the components together.
In another embodiment, the connector assembly includes a flexible isolation coupler and a tubular tailpipe. The flexible isolation coupler has a first end, a second end, and a flexible portion. The first end of the flexible isolation coupler is attached to the discharge outlet of the waste disposer. The tubular tailpipe has a first end and a second end. The first end of the tubular tailpipe is attached to the second end of the flexible isolation coupler. The second end of the tubular tailpipe is attached to the waste line. The flexible portion of the flexible isolation coupler isolates the vibrational forces created in the disposer during operation from the waste line.
In yet another embodiment, the connector assembly has a first tubular tailpipe, a flexible isolation coupler, and a second tubular tailpipe. The first tubular tailpipe has a first end and a second end. The first end of the first tubular tailpipe is attached to the discharge outlet of the waste disposer. The flexible isolation coupler has a first end and a second end. The first end of the flexible isolation coupler is attached to the second end of the first tubular tailpipe. The second tubular tailpipe has a first end and a second end. The first end of the second tubular tailpipe is attached to the second end of the flexible isolation coupler. The second end of the second tubular tailpipe is attached to the waste line.
Another embodiment of the connector assembly is used to attach a discharge outlet of a waste disposer to a waste line where the waste line has an outer threaded portion. The connector assembly has a tubular tailpipe, a nut, and a flexible isolation coupler. The tubular tailpipe has a first end and a second end. The first end of the tubular tailpipe is attached to the discharge outlet. The nut has an inner threaded portion and an end portion. The inner threaded portion is capable of being attached to the outer threaded portion of the waste line. The flexible isolation coupler is attached to the nut. The flexible isolation coupler has a flexible lip. The second end of the tubular tailpipe is capable of being inserted into the flexible isolation coupler and through the flexible lip. The flexible lip of the flexible isolation coupler allows isolation the vibrational forces from the waste line that may be created in the disposer during operation.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the connector assembly includes a first tubular tailpipe, a flexible isolation coupler, and a second tubular tailpipe. The first tubular tailpipe has a first end and a second end. The first end of the first tubular tailpipe is attached to the discharge outlet of the waste disposer. The flexible isolation coupler has a first end and a second end. The first end of the flexible isolation coupler is attached to the second end of the first tubular tailpipe by a first ring clamp or other clamp device. The second tubular tailpipe has a first end and a second end. The first end of the second tubular tailpipe is attached to the second end of the flexible isolation coupler by a second ring clamp or other clamp device. The second end of the second tubular tailpipe is attached to the waste line.
Another embodiment of the present invention includes a connector assembly for a food waste disposer having a first rigid portion, a flexible isolation coupler, and a second rigid portion. The first rigid portion is tubular and has a first end and a second end. The first end of the first rigid portion is attached to the discharge outlet of the waste disposer. The flexible isolation coupler has a first end and a second end. The first end of the flexible isolation coupler is integrally molded to the second end of the first rigid portion. The second rigid portion is tubular and has a first end and a second end. The first end of the second rigid portion is integrally molded to the second end of the flexible isolation coupler. The second end of the second rigid portion is attached to the waste line.
The above summary of the present invention is not intended to represent each embodiment, or every aspect of the present invention. This is the purpose of the figures and detailed description, which follow.